Seattle - Willamette itinerary
 

Have a week in mid-September in Pacific NW with 3 adult couples who like good food, good wine, architecture, museums (and the guys like airplanes). Is this itinerary practical; any suggestions for lodging/restaurants appreciated:

Wednesday fly into Seattle, stay downtown w/o car

Friday rent car downtown Seattle, drive to Everett in afternoon for Boeing tour (and visit relative); overnight there

Saturday leave early, drive south to Portland, spend day there, evening head south to McMinnville for 2 nights, probably Comfort Inn

Sunday do Evergreen Aviation Museum (Spruce Goose) and some wineries.

Monday AM more wineries, head SW on 18 to coast, come north on 101 to overnight in Astoria

Tuesday Astoria to Sea-Tac Airport for overnight there, as Wednesday AM flight home is really early in AM. Turn car in at airport

Sounds OK to me :-)

suze (in Seattle)

A few tweaks. Leaving Seattle, stop at the Museum of Flight as it is excellent. In McMinnville, you might look at Hotel Oregon instead of the Comfort Inn. The CI is on the edge of town, near the EAM, but not walkable to anything whereas the HO is smack in the heart of downtown. That Monday will be a very long day. I would suggest staying someone else that night, somewhere not quite so far north. Then the next day you can meander up the coast on your way back to WA. Have you thought about stopping at Mt. St. Helens on your way back up?

Lodging possibilities south of Astoria seemed slim. Would Cannon Beach be a good alternative?

Mt. St. Helens seemed too far out of the way inland to hit on the way back north.

Yes, Cannon Beach is very nice. Plus is is right on the ocean whereas Astoria is on the river. You could look into Manzanita, Arch Cape or Rockaway Beach as well.

Mt. St. Helens is only an hour from I-5. That is where Johnston Ridge Observatory is and truly, it is an amazing sight even for those of us who were here when it blew and remember it.

We just did the Boeing tour. We were staying by SeaTac the night before and made reservations online for 9:30am, but we were out of the hotel at 7:00am, ate breakfast, and then arrived at 9:00am and asked at the ticket booth if we could join the 9:00am tour. A group did not show up so we could go ahead. The tour lasted right at the 90 minutes stated, then we looked through the gift shop and the static displays for 30 minutes. We both really enjoyed the tour, so I am sure that will be a pleaser.

I have also been to the Museum of Flight in Seattle mentioned above. We thought it just below the Smithsonian in quality of displays, especially the war sections. My pilot husband and I spent several hours there two years ago and he wanted to go back this trip, but I wanted to go to new spots.

I haven't been to Evergreen, so can't comment on it.

We did drive from Everett to Portland after Boeing and it was a LONG drive with no traffic. It was even worse driving back to Seattle on Sunday afternoon when I-5 simply stopped in places, adding an hour to our drive.

Kay2--Yes, the drive can feel long if you hit traffic. We have done the Everett/Portland drive more times than I can count, including this week, lol! If you avoid rush hour traffic, or ball game traffic, it takes 3 1/2 hours.

Fine tuning itinerary:

We are in Cannon Beach Monday night and have to work back to Sea-Tac Airport Tuesday.

Recommendations for route that is scenic, not too stressful for traffic and practical for a minivan rental?? I am looking at 101 up to Aberdeen (or maybe to 107), west on 12 to Elma, 8 to Olympia, but after that it looks like the I-5 is about the only alternative.

Will appreciate any suggestions for route (and/or recommendations for a good lunch stop).

From Olympia to SeaTac, I-5 is your only reasonable choice. And no it's not particularly 'scenic' but it's a straight shot, approx. 1 hour.

Not much to add to what's already been recommended on Trip Advisor (at least for the route back to Sea-Tac). But, I'm wondering if you might change your itinerary any if you knew that many wineries are closed on Mondays, and for those that are open, tasting hours are typically 11:00am to 5:00pm.

Well of course itinerary has modified, in part because we vacillated so long on making reservations in wine country. Realize we don't have time for Portland on Saturday other than lunch. We are in Newberg Saturday night and near Dayton Sunday night. We understand will not be able to do much wine tasting Monday, so will head to coast earlier and spend time admiring ocean up to Cannon Beach. For trip back to airport decided against going up the 101 in Washington. We will head east from Astoria on 30 and may try to hit Mt St Helens en route to airport Tuesday if we're not too worn out from driving.

Here are areas I can use suggestions:

Place for lunch in Portland on Saturday that is not too far off I-5?

Suggestions for wineries and/or restaurants in north Willamette that might not be so crowded on Sunday? (I know, I'm dreaming.)

Places to stop for lunch or scenic break on Monday going from McMinnville down 18 to 101 and north up to Cannon Beach? What is the time frame from McMinnville to the Three Capes Loop? Would we save any time (enough to offset missed scenic ocean drive) by going 18-22-101 instead?

I usually stop at Mother's Bistro for lunch on my way from Seattle to Eugene. It's a quick jump off I-5, but I do recommend reservations as the place is EXTREMELY popular. The Saturday market is also right there if you want a quick lunch and sightsee there.

http://www.mothersbistro.com/